Neighborhood Notes

Toy Giveaway The 52nd Precinct, 3016 Webster Ave., is hosting a toy giveaway event Dec. 18 at 4 p.m. for children under the age of 13. Parents are required to preregister with the precinct and must accompany their children to receive a gift. For more information and to register, call Community Affairs Police Officer Crystal Reveron at (718) 220-5824. Flu Shots Walgreens in partnership with Montefiore will be giving flu shots at 573 E. Fordham Rd. (Hoffman Street between East Fordham Road and East 191st Street), Dec. 11 from noon to 2 p.m. Insurance card is required. Appointment is not

By DAVID CRUZ

Mabel Gerber, a pianist who dazzled audiences at Carnegie Hall while staying grounded as a piano teacher in Norwood, died on Nov. 21 after a long fight with multiple myeloma, friends and family confirmed. She was 85. Gerber was known as the neighborhood’s omnipresent piano teacher and owner of Gerber’s Piano Studio at 3230 Bainbridge Ave. It’s there she taught classical music and all its lyrical parts to hundreds of students around Norwood over the last six decades, often culminating with performances at MS 80 or PS. 8. Gerber was born to Edward and Salome Gerber on Oct. 4,

By HAYDEE CAMACHO

DeWitt Clinton High School’s journalism teacher and her students criticized a recent New York Post story over an investigation of an alleged grade-fixing scheme involving their principal. Overwhelmingly, they support Principal Santiago Taveras and questioned the journalistic integrity of the story and daily newspaper. “In my mind it came out of the blue,” said Ann Neary, who has taught Advanced Placement literature, writing and journalism at the school for 11 years. She said she had not heard any rumors of improper grade changing. “An investigation does not imply that the charges are true,” said Neary. The New York City Department of Education

COMMUNITY BOARD 7 will hold its general board meeting Dec. 15 at Scott Tower, 3400 Paul Ave., at 6:30 p.m. CB7 committee meetings are held on the following dates at the board office, 229A E. 204th St. at 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted: Traffic & Transportation: Dec. 10; Veterans Committee: Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m.; Housing/Land Use & Zoning: Dec. 16; Community Relations/LTP: Dec. 29; Economic Development: Dec. 29 at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call the Board office at (718) 944-5650. 52ND PRECINCT COMMUNITY COUNCIL meets Dec. 17 at Beso Lounge, 320 E. 204th St., from 6 to 10

Editor’s Pick Celebrate the Holidays The public is invited to a Winter Wonderland to celebrate Christmas, Eid eMilad-un Nabi, Kwanzaa, Chanukah and Three Kings Day, Dec. 19 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Williamsbridge Oval. Events include winter arts and crafts, carnival games, healthy snacks and a visit from some special guests including Santa. For more information, call (718) 543-8672 or visit nyc.gov/parks. Onstage The Bronx Library Center, 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd., presents Concert, featuring the Celia Cruz H. S. Chamber Orchestra performing classical music, Dec. 12; and Definitely Dickens Carolers featuring carolers performing traditional and contemporary holiday classics

In the last few weeks, Williamsbridge Oval Park has experienced a wave of unsettling incidents that include spurts of unsolved fires, ghastly graffiti tags, and daytime fistfights (with at least one reported stabbing of a 17-year-old) among young people. The Oval, as it’s known, is the epicenter of working-class Norwood. It’s the community’s main family-friendly venue ever since it was repurposed from a defunct city reservoir in the 1930s. Activity at the park typically decreases around this time, but warmer temperatures have put that on hold. Incidents, it seems, have ticked up. The latest happened during the last week of

By VIVIAN RATTAY CARTER

The oldest house of worship in the neighborhood, Bedford Park Congregational Church, founded in 1889 and designated a historic landmark in 2000, is receiving an early Christmas gift this year. On Sunday, Dec. 13, for the first time in 10 years, members of the congregation will be able to enjoy the sound of organ music in their sanctuary, as they dedicate a new Rodgers digital organ. Several months ago, the trustees considered completely restoring their 1930s-era Möller pipe organ, which was purchased second-hand from another church in the 1950s. The instrument had endured water damage due to a leaky roof,

To our readers, The Norwood News is out with its latest edition, offering you plenty of Bronx community news you can use. We begin in the heart of Norwood, or as some locals call it, the Jewel of Norwood: Williamsbridge Oval Park. It’s there where a series of vandalistic acts and arsons have creeped out neighbors with big pride of their storied park. Learn what police and the New York City Parks Department are doing about it. We also write some sad news of a longtime piano teacher in Norwood, Mabel Gerber, who passed away last month. Learn about her

Last week, NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central (formerly HHC North Central Bronx Hospital) unveiled a message of hope on World AIDS Day: Stomp Out AIDS. The declaration was emblazoned on a tarp, along with more messages of hope to eradicate the disease that’s claimed millions of lives since the epidemic was first identified in the early 1980s. The hospital houses a Special Care Clinic to treat HIV/AIDS sufferers. Community Board 7, which houses North Central, ranks 21 out of 59 community districts in the rate of new HIV diagnoses.